Process diagrams in Visio

Process diagrams are visualizations of any sort of step-by-step process. They are usually created as flowcharts, with shapes that represent steps in the process connected by arrows that indicate the next step.

Visio has a lot of process diagram templates, but they all can be put into one of two categories:

General purpose process diagrams

If you want to diagram a process and you don’t have a specific methodology you want to follow, one of these three templates should work well:

Basic Flowchart

Cross Functional Flowchart

Work Flow Diagram

To find these templates:

Click the File tab.

Click New.

Click Flowchart.

Basic Flowchart

The Basic Flowchart template is useful for a broad range of business processes, where each step can be represented using simple geometric shapes.

Cross Functional Flowchart

A cross functional flowchart is the same as a basic flowchart, but with an added element of structure: containers called “swimlanes” that represent the people or departments that are responsible for each step. In fact, the Cross Functional Flowchart template uses the same stencil of shapes the Basic Flowchart template uses; the main difference is that there are some swimlanes added to the page for you to start with.

Work Flow Diagram

The Work Flow Diagram is a general-purpose pictorial diagram. It has shapes for many common business departments, objects, and steps. You can use it instead of the Basic Flowchart to show in a more representational way how a process moves through various stages.

Process diagrams for specific methodologies

Methodology-based process diagrams have more structure than general purpose diagrams have, and they can convey more detailed information. They often use symbols that have specific meanings, or require that certain kinds of data accompany certain shapes to fully implement the process. These rules or guidelines are usually described formally in specifications, most of which are available on the Web.

To find these templates:

Click the File tab.

Click New.

Click Flowchart or Business.

Some of the templates included in Visio to support specific process methodology diagrams include:

Business Process Modeling Notation Diagram

Fault Tree Analysis Diagram

IDEF0 Diagram

ITIL Diagram

Microsoft SharePoint Workflow

SDL Diagram

Six Sigma Diagram

TQM Diagram

Value Stream Map

BPMN Diagram

You can create Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) flowcharts that follow the BPMN 1.2 standard.

Fault Tree Analysis Diagram

Use Fault Tree diagrams to document business processes, including Six Sigma and ISO 9000 processes.